diff --git a/deploy/chart/templates/daemonset.yaml b/deploy/chart/templates/daemonset.yaml
index 6f1c304d..615329cd 100644
--- a/deploy/chart/templates/daemonset.yaml
+++ b/deploy/chart/templates/daemonset.yaml
@@ -44,19 +44,21 @@ spec:
             {{- with .Values.linodegoDebug }}
             - --linodego-debug={{ . }}
             {{- end }}
-            {{- if .Values.routeController }}
-            - --enable-route-controller=true
-            {{- if and .Values.routeController.vpcName .Values.routeController.vpcNames }}
-            {{- fail "Both vpcName and vpcNames are set. Please use only vpcNames." }}
+            {{- $vpcNames := .Values.vpcNames }}
+            {{- if and .Values.routeController .Values.routeController.vpcNames }}
+            {{- $vpcNames = .Values.routeController.vpcNames }}
             {{- end }}
-            {{- if not (or .Values.routeController.vpcName .Values.routeController.vpcNames) }}
-            {{- fail "Neither vpcName nor vpcNames is set. Please set one of them." }}
+            {{- $vpcName := .Values.vpcName }}
+            {{- if and .Values.routeController .Values.routeController.vpcName }}
+            {{- $vpcName = .Values.routeController.vpcName }}
             {{- end }}
-            {{- with .Values.routeController.vpcName }}
-            - --vpc-name={{ . }}
+            {{- if and $vpcName $vpcNames }}
+            {{- fail "Both vpcName and vpcNames are set. Please use only vpcNames." }}
             {{- end }}
-            {{- with .Values.routeController.vpcNames }}
-            - --vpc-names={{ . }}
+            {{- if .Values.routeController }}
+            - --enable-route-controller=true
+            {{- if not (or $vpcName $vpcNames) }}
+            {{- fail "Neither vpcName nor vpcNames is set. Please set one of them." }}
             {{- end }}
             - --configure-cloud-routes={{ default true .Values.routeController.configureCloudRoutes }}
             - --cluster-cidr={{ required "A valid .Values.routeController.clusterCIDR is required" .Values.routeController.clusterCIDR }}
@@ -64,6 +66,12 @@ spec:
             - --route-reconciliation-period={{ . }}
             {{- end }}
             {{- end }}
+            {{- with $vpcNames }}
+            - --vpc-names={{ . }}
+            {{- end }}
+            {{- with $vpcName }}
+            - --vpc-name={{ . }}
+            {{- end }}
             {{- if .Values.sharedIPLoadBalancing }}
             {{- with .Values.sharedIPLoadBalancing.bgpNodeSelector }}
             - --bgp-node-selector={{ . }}
diff --git a/deploy/chart/values.yaml b/deploy/chart/values.yaml
index cea0ae26..3873a465 100644
--- a/deploy/chart/values.yaml
+++ b/deploy/chart/values.yaml
@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@ tolerations:
 #   clusterCIDR: 10.0.0.0/8
 #   configureCloudRoutes: true
 
+# vpcs that node internal IPs will be assigned from (not required if already specified in routeController)
+# vpcName: <name of VPC> [Deprecated: use vpcNames instead]
+# vpcNames: <comma separated list of vpc names>
+
 # Enable Linode token health checker
 # tokenHealthChecker: true
 
diff --git a/docs/getting-started/helm-installation.md b/docs/getting-started/helm-installation.md
index 449166e6..2395398c 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started/helm-installation.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started/helm-installation.md
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ routeController:
   clusterCIDR: "10.0.0.0/8"
   configureCloudRoutes: true
 
+# Optional: Assign node internal IPs from VPCs without enabling route controller
+# Not required if specified in routeController
+vpcNames: "" # Comma separated VPC names
+
 # Optional: Configure shared IP load balancing instead of NodeBalancers (requires Cilium CNI and BGP Control Plane enabled)
 sharedIPLoadBalancing:
   loadBalancerType: cilium-bgp